How Not to Make a Tribute
by dimitrisgirl18
Summary: How to not make your tribute suck, learned by reading about "Personality Traits...Not Just Sentences Anymore", "Grammar Nazis", "Is Every Tribute a Freaking Orphan?" and "Is It Just Me, or does Every Single Person in Panem Look Weird?"*credit to Foaly* :D


A/N: I have just finished writing a chapter for my SYOT, and I have a problem. Some of these characters are just difficult to write, and let's be honest, how many kids can possibly have bad families? I have sifted through the good and the bad, seen the super people and the weirdoes. Here's a how-to not make your tribute stink in the form of a story so I don't get in trouble with . :D Also, thanks to FoalyWinsForever for encouraging me to publish this.

She sat down at the computer, and clicked on the Hunger Games archive. There was a new SYOT story at the top, so she decided to submit a tribute. At the top it said "Check out this how-to on how to make your tribute believable and not stink." That could be interesting, she thought. So she clicked on the link and opened the how-to.

It read: (now starts the actual how-to)

Hello people of who love to submit tributes to the Hunger Games. This is a how-to on how-to create a tribute without making it suck. Now, I'm not pointing fingers, or even saying that I'm innocent. We've all done it at one time or another. We simply can't help ourselves, we have to give our tributes the most desirable appearance and we want them to win. Perfectly understandable. But there can only be one winner, not 24. So how do you make your tribute a good one without going overboard?

There must be a lot of orphans and serious tragedies in the districts.

I've seen so many tributes where the kid had no parents or one parent was missing or both parents were horrible. Now, when you really think about this, how likely is it that the tributes picked will a) be an orphan or b) have a bad family situation? If all these kids are running around parentless, who the heck is there to be the adult? Apparently, no one.

Is every tribute a superman/woman?

Let's face it, the average person, even in the Districts, isn't going to be perfect. So don't make your tribute perfect! For example: Best Weapon: Can use everything. Worst Weapon: None.

Or, my favorite: Strengths: can make people do whatever she wants just by looking into her eyes.

Now really, make people do whatever she wants? How many of your friends can do that to you? Probably none. If you know someone who can, please, have them give me a call. I'd like to see that.

Another thing in this category: once you decide what district your tribute is going to be in, stick with it! Kids from 12 are not going to be able to use a trident or swim well. On the other hand, kids from 4 will, but might not be as strong or as used to tough conditions. It just doesn't work out that way.

Besides, if you make your tribute have real qualities and real weaknesses, the author might be inclined to give you a cookie and feature your tribute in the story because they are so grateful. :D

Is it just me, or do all the people in Panem really look weird?

Now, this is the one that really smacks me in the face. Hard. Look around on any given day. You might see people with blue eyes, green, brown, hazel, blue-green, or very rarely, grayish-brownish colored eyes. They do not have "blue with silver streaks" or purple, red, gold, or any other ridiculous, non-natural eye color of the rainbow. Speaking of rainbow, people, even in the future, will not have TWO DIFFERENT COLORED eyes! Really, people; really?

(Edit: My lovely reviewers have informed me that heterochromia, a condition that causes the eyes to be two different colors, does actually exist. That's my bad for not researching that, and I acknowledge that it does exist and can happen. [Also, I think it's rather cool!] However, I will cite the rule that exceptions are not the rule. Not everyone in Panem will have heterochromia, and it's especially not okay if you say that your character doesn't have heterochromia or don't mention it. Be realistic, or ask permission.)

Hair color can be a little weirder, but it would most definitely not be natural if the tribute had "black hair with a blue streak through the middle." And hair is not always down to the waist either, ladies. Personally, I hate having long hair, it gets in the way. Wouldn't you want to get it cut if you were in the Games?

Wow, I never realized how many teenagers just happened to be in the Hunger Games and fall in love with another tribute who also happens to be in the Hunger Games and it's really weird how they were perfectly made for each other and it was just a coincidence.

If the application form says "Do you want a romance for your character?" it's perfectly fine to say yes. But not every time you submit a tribute. Those poor authors, trying to make every character get involved in a romance while still having everyone kill each other. So, all I'm saying here is, if you want your tribute to have a better chance of getting in the story, you might just have to fill out "No" on that enticing little romance question.

Mary-Sues aren't as common as you'd think.

Actually, quite the opposite.

Example: Mary is very sneaky and can survive well outdoors. Mary can use every weapon without a problem and can identify many different types of plants, especially the poisonous kinds. Mary scored a 10 in front of the Gamemakers.

Or: Sue has blonde hair down to her waist that sways when she walks and purple eyes with gold streaks in them. Sue is tall with curves in all the right places.

I can't say this enough: please, people. Really think about your character when you're writing it. BE REAL HERE, every tribute isn't going to be perfect.

Personality Traits…Not Just Sentences Anymore

Another thing that really kills the author. Writing down "kind, funny, friendly, loyal, pessimistic" does absolutely nothing to help the author know what kind of person they are. Some people have even submitted characters like this with contradicting traits, like they're just listing them. "Kind, mean, generous, cold." If they're going to be writing from this person's POV, how the heck are they going to know how? Personally, I pick the tributes that actually have a personality and write about them.

Grammar Nazis!

Okay, really? If the author is picking tributes based on how good they are, not first come/first serve, they're going to be looking for the ones that stand out. If there are a ton of grammar mistakes, that might just turn them off and make them reconsider your tribute. Even if you followed every other criteria here, bad grammar makes respectable authors cringe. Example:

Mary like to swim, but she isn't from district four. she's from district five, were they reserch new medacene. there tecknology is amazing.

That's not real, but all of those mistakes, especially "were" instead of "where" and "there" instead of "their" are real, and I see them all the time. That ticks me off. A lot. There have actually been a few tributes who I haven't accepted because they were written fairly okay, but with horrible grammar.

Note to authors, but especially people who want to read and get some forewarning.

If you have tributes like this, or especially tributes who you find have been submitted to other stories, I have one word for you. Bloodbath. I have found that one of my tributes have been double-submitted, and believe me, that tribute is getting killed in the bloodbath. Sorry :D Again, I give cookies to those who are ORIGINAL. See next rant topic. Oh! Secret. *beckons* Come closer. *waits impatiently* Authors are most likely to take your tribute if it's a non-Career guy. No one submits those first. *wink* That said, check the list that authors will probably have up to see what spots are available. It's really tiresome messaging everyone that their districts need to be changed, and I just toss the tributes who are repeat districts.

One last thing: be original. It's not hard.

Obviously, if you're on this site and have written a story, you have some creative spark in you and you can think on your own. So don't reuse tributes! There are many sad, sad cases where I have read a story and then read another with the same tribute in it.

And it's really, really, REALLY painfully obvious when the author's tribute form isn't even in your review. It's just one you got off of the first story you submitted to and now you use it for every story. That gets me mad. Anyways, be original, cause it's better that way.

Feel free to flame, or whatever, or just ignore this. But don't blame me when your tribute doesn't get chosen. The only thing I hoped to get out of this was a few chuckles, a few "That's so trues" and a few less authors with headaches.

And that's not to say that I haven't seen some excellently written SYOTs, and some great authors who submit great characters. I have, and to those people who know who they are, congrats. I give you a cookie. (I give out lots of cookies to good people :D)

Again, thanks to FoalyWinsForever.

So, here's to the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, HG die-hards, authors and submitters. Happy New Year. Get writing! :D


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